Original Ottoman Turkish Text

Metre: Fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilâtün

Ġamzeler ‘âşıḳa şemşîr-i şehâdet mi degildir
Öyle düzdîde nigâh üstine raḥmet mi degildir
Ḳayd-ı zülfini çeker bu dil-i divâne çekinmez
Öyle bir cây-ı ṣafâ cânıma minnet mi degildir
Bilmezem bu tek-u-pû kâr-ı ḥarîṣâne cihâna
Taḫta-i na‘ş-ı fenâ püster-i raḥmet mi degildir
Dil çeker şerbet-i remân-ı la‘liñi ṭabîbim
Cânına ‘âfiyet ü cismine ṣıḥḥat mi degildir
‘Âkifâ tevbeler ideñ heves-i dilbere ammâ
Niyyetiñ semt-i Amasîyaya ric‘at mi degildir

In English

1. Are glances not the sword of martyrdom for the lover; is such a stolen look not a mercy descending upon him?

2. This mad heart bears the bond of her tresses and does not flinch; is such a place of delight not a favour to my soul?

3. I do not know why one should rush about greedily in this world; is the coffin board of mortality not a bed of mercy?

4. My physician, the heart drinks the pomegranate sherbet of your ruby lip; is this not well-being to its soul and health to its body?

5. O Âkif, you repent many times of your longing for beauties, but is your intention not to return towards Amasya?

Literary and Historical Commentary

Structure of the Poem

The poem is a ghazal (gazel) of five couplets. The edition gives the metre as "fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilâtün fe‘ilâtün". The redif (refrain word) is "mi degildir" (is it not); the rhyme rests on the sound "-et" in the words "şehâdet, raḥmet, minnet, ṣıḥḥat, ric‘at". The rhyme word "raḥmet" is repeated in the third couplet. Every couplet ends with a question; these are questions that expect no answer and reinforce what is said (istifham). The number is the order of the sample poem in the article by Öntürk and Tunçadam; the poem's number among the ghazals of the divan is not given in the article.

Meaning and Figures of Speech

The ghazal is built on a logic that presents the pain of love and death itself as blessings. The beloved's glance is a sword that kills the lover, but this death is martyrdom; the stolen look is a mercy descending upon him. In the third couplet the same thought is applied to the world: there is no sense in rushing about greedily, for even the coffin board is a bed of mercy. In the fourth couplet the beloved is likened to a physician and her lip to pomegranate sherbet; the word "remân" is a reading of the Arabic "rummân", pomegranate. The most striking place in the ghazal is the pen-name couplet. The poet addresses himself: he says he repents of his longing for beauties, but admits that his real intention is to return to Amasya. The couplet sets up a relation between the words "tövbe" (repentance) and "ric‘at" (return); both words describe turning away from one direction and towards another.

Historical Context

The pen-name couplet suggests that the poem was written while the poet was away from Amasya; this is an inference. According to the sources, Âkif studied in Cairo in his youth, was in Istanbul around 1708, sat the examination for madrasa teachers in Istanbul and made the pilgrimage three times. To which of these journeys the ghazal belongs is unknown. It is the only sample poem in which the poet, who according to Hüsameddin spent most of his life in Amasya, mentions the city directly. For the poet's life, see the article Îdîzâde Âkif Mustafa Efendi.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Academic studies

  • Tolga Öntürk and Özcan Tunçadam, "Amasyalı 'Îdî-zâde Âkif Mustafa ve Divanı", Hikmet-Akademik Edebiyat Dergisi, 6(12), 2020, pp. 259-281 (text: pp. 278). https://doi.org/10.28981/hikmet.683811
  • Mehmet Faruk Çifçi, "İbnü'l-Verdî'den 'Îdîzâde'ye Makâmelerde Veba Algısı", Pamukkale Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 8(1), 2021, pp. 296-297. https://doi.org/10.17859/pauifd.913179

Online sources